Brittany, Sarzeau

Camping Le Bohat     June 2008

 We did not do a review at the time.  Some notes will follow.  My recollection though was it was good.

Maine et Loire, Clere sur Layon

Camping Le Serpolin    December 2012

We did not do a review at the time.  Some notes will follow.  My recollection though was it was a good  English owned CL type sight with camping field and a couple of hardstandings.  Owners very friendly, we were greeted with a mug of tea.

Storage facilities on site, both covered and open.  Leave your caravan, it is towed into storage, then put back on a pitch when you return.

Pas de Calais, Guines

Castel Le Bien Assise             June 2012

A useful site at Calais.  We did not do a formal review as we were only there one night, but I recall a nice big pitch!

Somme, Abbeville

Chateau des Tilleuls    March 2015, May & June 2019

We last stayed here a few years ago and there have been lots of improvements since then - a smart reception building, shop and cafe, and some interesting types of accommodation as well as the usual pitches and mobile homes. There is a variety of unusual tents to rent, some raised up on stilts, some described as "bivouacs", some "tentes suspendues", and four amazing and luxurious tree houses (one even has a sauna and a hot tub!) There are about forty touring pitches, generous in size, and lots of permanent pitches and chalets.

There appears to be plenty to do in high season, with a tennis court, basketball court and beach volleyball as well as a swimming pool, and three ponies and a donkey! In low season it was very quiet, but we enjoyed walking around the site, and listening to the birdsong. We even heard a turtle dove, which was a treat.

The main toilet block is fully enclosed, heated, unisex, and very smart and modern. Loos have seats and paper, showers are operated by the same fob that opens the barriers. You are allotted a certain amount of time but we found it ample, and the temperature is controllable. However the cubicles would benefit from an extra hook. The smaller second block is much more basic.

We stayed at this site on our way to the Dordogne and again on our way back. It's just over an hour's drive from the Tunnel, so it makes a very convenient and pleasant overnight stop.

Yvelines, Mousseaux sur Seine

Les Loisirs des Groux    July 2008

This is quite a pleasant site in quiet countryside beside the Seine, but the facilities are rather rundown. There are a lot of statics which seem to be weekend homes for Parisians - Paris is only 80km away - or even permanent homes, as a lot of cars leave the site in the early morning and return in the evening. There are also some smart bungalows for hire. There are a few touring pitches, marked by hedges and quite roomy.

The toilet blocks need updating but they are clean and there is plenty of hot water in the showers, but only at certain hours (7am - 1pm, 4pm - 9.30pm.) However the wash-basins and washing-up sinks have cold water only. The washing machine, at 2 euros, is the cheapest one we have come across. There is free wifi in a small area in and around an old caravan with an awning, which smells a bit musty! There is no swimming pool, shop or restaurant but a baker's van comes at weekends. There is a big shopping centre in the nearby town.

The site is well-placed for visiting Monet's garden at Giverny, and also the Parcours des Impressionistes, an interesting drive linking locations where several Impressionists painted local views. Reproductions of the paintings are placed where the artists would have painted them, so you can compare their view with the modern-day view - in some cases, very little has changed.

All in all, a relaxing site but not for those who like tip-top facilities! 

Aisne, Guignicourt

picture from ACSI swebsite

Camping du Bord de l'Aisne    June 2011

We used this as an overnight stop on our way back to the Channel tunnel. It's an open, level, grassy site with roomy pitches, and was very quiet when we were there. The toilet facilities were clean and functional rather than attractive. There was loo paper but no seats.

There was plenty of information in reception about the area, especially the WW1 sites.

A bread van comes every morning between 8.30 and 9, but this is a bit late for anyone catching a morning ferry/train. However there is a Carrefour supermarket in the town.

At 19.50 euros a night it was more than we had been paying for ACSI sites, but still good value.

Calvados, Moyaux

Camping Le Colombier  June 2008

now known as Camping Huttopia Calvados

This was our first experience of a foreign campsite - having recently bought a caravan we rather rashly decided to have a senior gap year touring Europe, starting with France! We were told to choose our pitch and here our inexperience got us into trouble.
The pitches are in what was once an orchard so there are numerous apple trees. We managed to have a slight argument with one of them and scratched our lovely new 'van, then, having set up, discovered there wasn't enough room to put up our awning because of the trees. However, this was down to our inexperience and not the fault of the site!
We found the facilities excellent - a well-stocked shop that even sold English papers, delicious home-cooked takeaway food, a cosy bar / library and pleasant, fully-segregated toilet facilities. The swimming pool looked lovely but the weather was wet, unfortunately.
The staff were friendly and there was free internet use in reception, though we struggled a bit with the French keyboard! We made trips to Caen and to Honfleur before moving on to Brittany. All in all we would certainly stay here again - a very picturesque, quiet site

Calvados, Benouville

Camping Les Hautes Coutures   July 2008

We used this site for 2 nights on our way back to the UK after 6 weeks spent touring round France. We felt it compared poorly with other French campsites, except for 2 things: firstly, the new swimming pool complex was superb, and having an indoor section was very useful as the weather was cold and wet during our brief stay; and the location was extremely convenient for the ferry, and also for the D-Day beaches and Pegasus Bridge. No doubt this is why the site is so expensive, at around 30 euros a night the dearest we had come across.
We didn't use the bar or restaurant but noticed they were open all day, which is useful. The shop was very poor so we used a local supermarket. The toilet block was fine - the loos were segregated by sex, but not the showers or washbasins, but this is pretty standard in France, as is the lack of loo seats. (The French have some eccentric views on hygiene - they think 'hole in the ground' type toilets are more hygienic, but if they have sit-on ones they prefer them with no seats, again for reasons of hygiene.
They also believe that swimming shorts are unhygienic and in many swimming pools men have to wear speedo-type trunks.
So to sum up - we would use the site again because of its convenient location for overnight stopovers, but not for longer stays.